Potential Loss Of Public Lands

[livingthedream]

It appears the Malheur NWR Occupation may not be all for not.

As of this afternoon, the leadership of the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service(Service), informed the Chairman of the Confederated Salish & Kootenai Tribes(CSKT) of western Montana that the Service, with support of the Secretary of Interior, would promote and support legislation that would transfer the National Bison Range Refuge to be transferred and held in trust for the Tribes by Bureau of Indian Affairs(BIA). The Service feels this would be best since they have been unsuccessful for the past 20 years to develop an agreement with CSKT that would've allowed for a partnership. The Service feels this will allow limited Refuge resources to be used on more important landscape level conservation priorities.

 

[Big Fin]

What links you have for this? Please share.

 

[HighWildFree]

Seems like it still would be Federal land. Just held in trust by the BIA (Feds)

 

[teamhoyt]

I Did a quick Google search of " transfer of national Bison range" and found several articles from current back to 2003. Looks like this has been back and forth for 13+ years

 

[Ben Long]

Yes, this is an old discussion. The Bison Range is entirely on the Flathead Reservation. There has been a lot of back-and-forth between the tribes and the feds for a couple decades. It's been quite controversial, but I think this is independent from the ALC/Bundy land grab.

 

[Straight Arrow]

It is a controversy which has ensued for decades, based on the tribe wanting more authority in administration and operation of the National Bison Range. The perception is that unrest began about the time of the death of "Big Medicine" the sacred white buffalo. It may take the birth of another albino bison to quell the unrest with some good medicine.

 

[Jwill]

http://missoulian.com/news/local/fw...cle_b2533abc-91f4-5555-9be2-14a991550f05.html

Saw this today.

 

[livingthedream]

And another: http://www.peer.org/news/news-releases/move-to-cede-crown-jewel-refuge-to-tribe.html

For those that see this simply as a continuation of a twenty year debate over co-management, it's time to wake up. Not sure the public will have any say in future management, once the lands are transferred to the BIA to be held in trust for CSKT. But not too worry, this won't set any precedent for other recognized self governance tribes, armed militias, or the self righteous right-winged politicians

Carry on.

 

[katqanna]

In fall of 2014 we were going through a third funding agreement proposal on the National Bison Range with the CSKT. Susan Reneau, with Boone and Crockett in Missoula, is one of my subscribers, sent information she was involved with. She is a big fan of Theodore Roosevelt and his conservation efforts, which involved the National Bison Range.

Anyway, take a look at some of the letters, documents submitted from retired USFWS, other managers of National Wildlife Refuges. This would be a bad precedent on many levels. I was glad to see PEER is involved on this.

Several points

• Native Americans are their own sovereign nations. Should this refuge be turned over to them, it becomes theirs, not the public's.
  
• Look at what happened to the public's wild bison that made it through the 5 years of quarantine, housed at Turner's Green Ranch. Our FWP Commission gave them to the Native Americans at Fort Belknap, a sovereign nation, less than a year, 19 of them had died suddenly in the summer.
  
• Those refuge bison belong to the public, all the public. Yet, there are interests that continually seek to privatize wild bison, especially here in Montana. So instead of moving towards wild bison, as wildlife, on public lands in Montana, for the benefit of public hunters, we keep seeing deals struck that privatize our wildlife, removing/lessening that opportunity for us..

 

[bigskyblueman]

History of management problems and loss of public access make this a bad idea.

 

[theat]

History of management problems and loss of public access make this a bad idea.

My thoughts exactly